Circular-knitting machine.



R. S. BEAVERS.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. I915.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

ROBERT S. BEAVER/S, OF-PAWTUCKET, RHOIJE ISLAN' D, ASSIGNOR '10 JENCK ESKNITTHt'tE MACHINE COMPANY, OF PAWTUC KET, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATIONOF EHODE rsnann.

cincuLAn-Kmrrme MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. re. 11ers.

Application filed June 18, 1915. Serial No. 34,847.

will enable others skilled in the art to which.

it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to circular knitting machines such as are used inknitting seamless hosiery, and more particularly to yarn feedingmechanism for such machines.

In doing certain classes of work upon these machines a yarn which shouldappear on the face of the finished fabric is fed to the needles with theother yarn or yarns and it is the object of the present invention toprovide novel and improved means for feeding the yarns in such mannerthat the uniform location of the yarns in the fabric will be insured;

To this end the invention contemplates the provision in a circular latchneedle machine of a novel and improved yarn feeding means constructedand arranged to maintain a radial separation of the yarns until theyenter the hooks of the needles. Bythus arranging the yarn feeding meansthe uniform relation between the-yarns as they are drawn through theloops of the preceding course requisite for accurate and successfulplating is insured. It is preferred to so arrange the guides that theyarns from the guides will pass into the needle hooks from the shank andlatch sides, respectively, and will thus invariably assume their properrelative positions in the hooks without danger of interference ordisarrangement.

In embodying the broader invention in a machine provided witha pluralityof yarn carriers by which the various yarns now usually used in knittingstockings maybe inserted and withdrawn, certain further features ofinvention have been employed which will be hereinafter, described andset forth in the claims. I

' Various features of the invention will be understood from aninspection of the accompanying drawings and the following detaileddescription of the mechanism illustrated therein.

In the drawings; Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing so much of acircular knltting machine as is necessary to illustrate the applicationof the present invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a detail plan view showmgthe latch ring throat plate and yarn carriers; Fig. 3 is a front Viewshowing the throat plate and the lead of two of the yarns; Fig. 4 is asimilar side view of the throat plate; Fig. 5 is a similar plan view;and Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views indicating the manner in whichthe yarns enter the needle hooks.

In the drawings the invention is shown as embodied in a rotary needlecylinder ma chine adapted for knitting fashioned seamless stockings orhalf hose. The needle cylinder which is indicated at 2 is provided withthe usual radial slots in which the latch needles 4 are mounted. Theneedle cylinder is rotated and reciprocated and the needles are operatedand controlled by cams and pickers in the usual manner. The upper endsof the needles are surrounded by' a latch ring 6 within which is mounteda. yarn holding and cutting mechanism indicated at 8 which cooperateswith the yarn carriers in introducing and withdrawing the various yarnsduring the knitting. Only two of the yarn carriers are shown, the yarncarrier 10'being intended to illustrate one of the carriers fordelivering yarn to the main feed throat, while the carrier 12illustrates a carrier for delivering yarn to the auxiliary feed throat.The carriers are raised and lowered to withdraw or insert the yarnscarried thereby by suitable mechanism not shown.

The yarn M is led to the needles through a main feed throat 14 formed ina throat plate 16 which is secured in fixed position in the latch ring.The feed throat 14 is provided with a yarn guiding surface 18 over whichthe knitting yarn or yarns lead directly to the needles and is alsoprovided with the end walls 20 and 22 which confine the yarns to theguiding and supporting surface-18 and form shoulders at the oppositeends of the guiding surface across which the knitting yarn may leadduring the knitting, either rotary or reciprocatory. A yarn P leads froma yarn carrier 12 through an auxiliary feed throat 24: directly to theneedles. The feed throat 24, in the construction shown, is formed by ayarn guiding finger or projection on the outer side at the lllld throatplate shaped to form a yarn retaining notch through which the yarnpasses directly to the needles. The throat plate is provlded with a slot26 leading to the auxiliary feed throat 24 from a point directly abovethe end wall 22 of the'main feed throat 14. The yarn P passes throughthis slot when the yarn carrier 12 is raised or lowered to withdraw orinsert the yarn.

The auxiliary feed throat which forms the yarn guide from which the yarnP leads directly to the needles is arranged to the rear of the main feedthroat. 14 and is' also arranged at a greater radial distance from theneedles so that the yarn P leads to the knitting %(4)int at a steeperinclination than the yarn and is also separated radially from the yarn Muntil the yarns are substantially at. the knitting point and are withinthe hook of the needle which is about to draw the yarns through the loopof the previous course. By reason of the arrangement of the feed throatswhich form the yarn guides from which the yarns lead directly to theneedles, the yarn M draws against the shanks of the needles while theyarn P is free of the needle shanks and is in position to lie againstthe latches of the needles when they have been closed, as indicated inFigsvfi and 7. In passing into the needle hooks, therei fore, theyarn Ppasses up the latch and into the hook from the latch side, while theyarn M passes up the shank of the needle and into the hook from theshank side. The proper relation of the yarns within the needle hookswhen the needles draw the new loops through the loops of the previouscourse 1s thus insured with a resulting accuracy and uniformity in therelative positions of the yarns in the fabric.

While it is preferred to employ the specific through which yarn mayconstruction and arrangement of parts shown and described, it will beunderstood that this construction and arrangement is not essential tothe broader features of the invention and may be varied and modified asfound desirable or best suited to the construction of the machine inwhich the invention is to be embodied.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention and specificallydescribed one construction in which it may be embodied, what is claimedis 1. A circular knitting machine, having, in combination, a needlecylinder, vertically movable yarn carriers, a throat plate having a mainfeed throat provided with a guiding surface over which yarn leadsdirectly to the needles, and having an auxiliary feed throat throughwhich yarn leads from a carrier directly to the needles arranged to therear of the main throat and a greater radial distance from the needles,and a slot be introduced or withdrawn from the auxlliary throat by thevertical movement of a carrier.

,2. A throat plate for circular knitting machines having a main feedthroat provided with a yarn guiding surface and shoulders at the end ofthe surface, an auxiliary feed throat radially outside the main throat,and a slot through which yarn may pass to and from the auxiliary throat.

3. A throat plate for circular knitting machines provided with a mainfeed throat 14 having a yarn guiding surface 18 from which the yarnpasses directly to the needles and end walls 20 and 22, an auxiliaryfeed throat 24 on the outer side of the throat plate, and a slot 26leading to the auxiliary feed throat from above the end wall 22.

ROBERT S. BEAVERS.

